Meet 2025 Legends Award Winner Syd Kitson

As Hurricane Ian pummeled Florida, Syd Kitson was holding his breath, hoping the roughly 5,000 Babcock Ranch residents he’d told to shelter at home were safe. He had built the master-planned community to withstand the storm of the century, and here it was roaring through.

He knew they had done everything right–or had at least done everything in their power to weatherproof the community. They worked with Florida Power and Light (FPL) to harden the infrastructure, ensuring that all utilities were installed underground. Babcock Ranch also underwent extensive flow studies to find, respect, and improve existing waterways.

That all looked good on paper, but as the deadliest hurricane since 1935 howled through the state, he couldn’t help but wonder if it would be enough.

“When this thing hit, we had done so many things with our stormwater system, and the buildings being able to withstand Category 5 winds,” he says. “Everything we did was to gear up for something like this, but you never know until you’re tested. And here it was. We were being tested.”

With hope and optimism, Kitson told Tom Hoban, Kitson & Partners president and chief investment officer, “Tom, you know, this is it. If we can survive this without any damage and get through it, it’s a game changer for us, because we can prove that all the work we did paid off.”

As the 2022 storm broke, Kitson drove around the community, and people were in a state of shock. While most of the state was powerless, the community still had electricity. The storm was responsible for over 150 direct and indirect deaths and $112 billion in damage across the state, yet the community was relatively unscathed.

“People were walking around their neighborhoods just looking around because they watched on TV all the devastation,” he says. “And yet we had very little damage.” Ian was the second storm to directly hit Babcock Ranch and was followed by Milton last year. The town also weathered it well.

From the Ground Up

Over the last nearly two decades, Kitson and his team have worked to develop Babcock Ranch. His firm’s purchase of 91,000 acres just outside of Fort Myers in 2006 ultimately became the largest single land preservation agreement in Florida’s history when 73,000 acres were set aside.

The remaining 18,000 acres became the first solar-powered town in the U.S., with half being preserved and the other planned for as many as 22,000 homes and over 60,000 residents. Partnering with FPL, it took nearly eight years to put together Babcock Ranch’s almost 700,000 panels on roughly 840 acres.

“It powers our town directly, and it’s something I’m very, very proud of,” he says.

“FPL’s solar energy centers at Babcock Ranch in Charlotte County include Babcock Ranch and Babcock Preserve solar energy centers. Each 74.5 megawatt FPL solar energy center is capable of powering approximately 14,000 homes with zero-emissions energy, while eliminating emissions equivalent to taking 17,000 cars off the road each year,” explains Florencia Olivera, FPL spokesperson.

The community features space for shopping, dining, recreation, and healthcare facilities, and has established itself as one of the most thoughtfully designed master-planned communities in the United States.

It’s also led to a special accolade for Kitson, who has been named the 2025 Legends Award winner and will be recognized at Zonda’s Future Place event on Oct. 27 to 29.

“Syd Kitson and his team created one of the most forward-thinking master plans in the country. From being America’s first solar-powered town to becoming a national model for storm resilience, the community is filled with groundbreaking features,” says Mollie Carmichael, principal, advisory at Zonda.

Babcock Ranch has grown rapidly since its first home closing seven years ago, now boasting nearly 5,000 sold and rental homes and 12,500 residents. By the end of the year, Kitson expects nearly 6,000 rooftops, including over 500 multifamily and single-family rentals, and 15,000 residents. Roughly 11,000 lots have been sold to builders so far.

“We have a lot of true believers here that want to change the world. We want to do the right thing. We want to be leaders in innovation and how to do it right. And that’s not always easy to do, but it’s worth it,” Kitson says. “And at the end of the day, when you see the results. You see how people are living, that you really can do it the right way and be economically successful. That’s when you know you’ve got it right.”

Hoban says, “Syd and I have been partners for 22 years. That’s a long time. I have learned so much from him over that time frame. While the real estate and developer lessons have been plentiful, I have found the life lessons and soft skills to be most valuable.”

Before Babcock

It seems Kitson was destined to be a developer. As a senior playing football at Wake Forest University, he met a developer in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. An invitation to lunch turned into a tour of all the projects he had developed.

“The pride he had in what he had created just stunned me,” he says. “It was just the enthusiasm in how he had impacted people’s lives for the positive. He shared the things he had created, how he created, why he created it, but what really struck me was that he never once mentioned money. Not one time. It was something deep in his heart, and I remember thinking that’s what I want to do.”

Kitson graduated with a degree in economics and went on to play in the National Football League as an offensive guard for the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. While he loved the game, real estate and development were always on his mind.

“I wanted to change the perception of developers. You can see all over the country that there are developers and builders who really care,” he says. “During that tour my senior year, I knew I wanted play in the NFL for a number of years, but I also knew that I wanted to be somebody who created master plan communities.”

In 1985, he launched his career in real estate, overseeing residential communities and commercial developments in the Northeast. In the early days, Kitson was also a home builder. He learned a great deal when the market crashed in 1987 and the years that followed, as he joined a firm in 1992 that he ultimately merged with.

Working to revive and fix distressed communities, Kitson learned more about master plans until he decided he wanted to start fresh, in a big way.

“I have never met someone who has more will to succeed,” Hoban says. “No obstacle or problem is too difficult to solve. Syd is such an inspirational leader. He motivates all of us to achieve beyond what we think is possible.”

In 1999, Kitson planted a flag in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for Kitson & Partners, and set out to develop with nature at the center.

And while he’s immersed in the sustainability and functionality of Babcock Ranch, even living there himself, he’s most excited that he and his wife of 42 years, as well as their children and their families, will have preserved land to enjoy for a lifetime—as will anyone else who wants to call the Sunshine State home.

A New Kind of Hometown

Kitson and his team laid out seven initiatives when they began the work for Babcock Ranch including environment, energy, education, transportation, technology, health, and storm safety.

The ever-evolving project features kindergarten through 12th-grade schools that can accommodate 2,100 students, a daycare and pre-kindergarten facility, the Solar Ranch, an FPL Eco-Discovery Center, and a three-story observation tower. Additionally, the project includes an under-construction Florida Wildlife Center.

“It is hard to describe the feeling I get when I see children walking or riding their bikes to school. Or dropping a fishing line in the water. Or a couple walking along our hiking trails. Or thousands of people enjoying Friday Night Food Trucks in Founder’s Square,” Hoban says. “It is just so rewarding and satisfying to see how all the hard work our team has invested in Babcock Ranch is positively impacting the lives of everybody who has chosen to live here.”

Babcock Ranch welcomed its first residents in 2018 right before its official grand opening. Today, the town offers a diverse mix of neighborhoods and housing types to suit various lifestyles and stages including multifamily, single-family rentals, coach homes, low-maintenance villas, low-rise condominiums, single-family homes, and custom homes.

With the growing lifestyle amenities and commercial offerings, Kitson says, “What we’re trying to do is to make sure that we don’t create silos for traffic. We’re trying to get it right and make sure that all the components of this community work together, but of course we’re not perfect.”
The spine of Babcock Ranch is all roundabouts, Kitson notes, “I think if you talk to people here, they’ll tell you how awesome it is not to hurry up and wait.” There are also driverless cars to help residents move around when walking or biking isn’t feasible.

The park system offers six interconnecting parks along Babcock Trail Road coined The PKWY. To light the six parks, Babcock Ranch partnered with Streetleaf for solar-powered streetlights that have been rolled out in four phases.

“I get a lot of feedback from people, and I’ve had a lot of great ideas to make this place even better,” Kitson says.

The high school celebrated its first graduation and its inaugural football game last year. When Kitson put in the stands, he says, “People were saying, ‘Well gee, you know, I don’t know if you put up enough stands.’ And I said, well, if people come to watch, we’ll build more stands. The first game there were 2,000 people. It was packed and I quickly realized I have to put more stands up.”

He was thrilled to see the support of the kids in the community. A commonality shared with the firm itself, Hoban says. “As developers, we are in the problem-solving business. As such, our culture is one of innovation, coming up with creative ways to get to the goal line,” Hoban says. “We are a family-first culture. Nothing is more important than family, and we try to create a family-friendly atmosphere in the office. I am very proud of our team and the culture that we have created together.”

His Hometown

The small town of New Providence, New Jersey, had a profound impact on Kitson and his passion for designing well-planned communities. Although he believes it may have been by accident, his hometown was well-designed.

“The downtown was in the middle of the community. The school, all the activities were right smack dab in the middle. It was very walkable. We didn’t have buses or anything in our town, so you actually did walk to school,” he says. “It really was a great lesson, though, in good design.”

As a kid, Kitson’s mom told him to be home for dinner. He would spend his days exploring on bikes and playing pickup games. His childhood and teenage years were also filled with hiking and camping. As a teen, he and a buddy would hitchhike into the Adirondack Mountains to camp.
The lessons he learned amongst the trees ultimately shaped his life and career that’s focused on sustainability.

“It gave me this incredible perspective on nature, the environment, how important it is, and how much I love it. People often ask, ‘Well, how did you become a developer?’ since deep inside I’m an environmentalist, but my response has always been that it seems absolutely the right thing to do because it doesn’t matter where you are, we need more homes,” Kitson shares.

“We’re going to continue to build more homes. You have to learn how to work with nature, not against nature.”